I have a Deep sink in the laundry room. It gets filled with water and a healthy splash of bleach. I don't measure. We soak them foe a couple hours after carving. Flipping them. Kills the bad stuff. We just rinse them after the soak so we don't destroy clothes with the bleach. Might soak them again p...

My wife is a lefty. The matte fixative is a must to stop the smudges. It works for her. See the link below. If you try the speedballs again. Outline everything with the #1 bit. EVERYTHING!!! It makes the cleanest, sharpest lines. As for the apprentice......I'm not sure how to change that. I always t...

I'm one of the people who don't X-acto. Because I suck at it. I don't have issues with blowouts on my patterns. 1/32" bit. I Elmers white glue my pattern on. My top tip is to only cut in one direction. Even if it means flipping my pumpkin 30 times a minute. When I say one direction. It generally mea...

I do the intricate ones on real and foam. For my real pumpkins, I use Saral transfer paper with Matte fixative to seal it in. Occasionally I use an x-acto blade. Cutouts with the X-acto keyhole saw. Detailed shading with speedball linoleum cutter #1. Truthfully I do most of my pumpkin with this. For...